Too Good to be True
by Under the Mourning Star
Summary: It's hard to undo 300 years of conditioning in just a few seconds, and it will take something more to convince Jack that things really have changed.


**I haven't been active in this fandom in a really long time, but I was browsing through my documents and found this random little piece collecting dust. I wouldn't say it's my best work since I wrote it so long ago, but it could be worse.**

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Jack watched the gathered children with a small smile as they marveled at the dream sand fireworks and chattered in excitement to their childhood heroes. It was strange to think that all the kids here could actually see him. In three hundred years, no one had ever believed in him, and now someone _did_. Sure, it was only a handful of kids and it seemed insignificant compared to the sheer number of believers the other Guardians had, but they meant everything to Jack.

He had always loved children, and even when they walked right through him as if he didn't even exist, he _still_ loved them. And now some of them could actually see him, and he was a Guardian, and maybe, just maybe, the other Guardians would finally want to be his friends. In three hundred years, Jack hadn't ever had anyone see him, had never had a guardian, and had certainly never had friends.

To suddenly get everything he had ever dreamed of after so long… It was overwhelming, to say the least. It almost felt too good to be true.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when North dropped a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Time to go," the older Guardian said, throwing Jack a smile as he headed towards the sleigh.

Jack let out a breath. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay here with Jamie and get to know his first believer, but he knew North was right. Besides, it wasn't like this was just a dream, right? Jack could always stop by Burgess later, and Jamie would still be here.

And speaking of Jamie…

"You're leaving? But what if Pitch comes back?" the boy asked, eyes wide. "What if we stop believing again? If I can't see you–"

Time to stop that train of thought _right there_ , because Jack was not ready to consider it. Jamie wouldn't stop believing, _couldn't_ stop believing, because if he did...if he did…

Jack suppressed a shudder at the thought and quickly knelt down so that he could look Jamie in the eye.

"Hey, hey, slow down." _Please, please stop._ "Are you telling me you stop believing in the moon when the sun comes up?" the spirit asked, giving the kid one of his trademark smiles to cover up his unease.

Jamie paused and seemed to consider his words for a second before replying. "No."

"Okay, well do you stop believing in the sun when clouds block it out?"

Jamie smiled sheepishly. "No."

"We'll always be there, Jamie. And now we'll always be here too." Jack pointed at Jamie's chest, finger hovering right above the kid's heart. He was careful not to quite touch Jamie, because if this was all just some kind of dream then his finger would go _right through_ the kid, and although Jack wasn't quite prepared to accept this as reality, he definitely didn't want to shatter whatever illusion this was. "Which kind of makes you a Guardian too, if you think about it," he finished.

He was relieved when Jamie smiled and seemed to understand. Letting out a breath he wasn't aware that he had been holding, he turned and started walking towards the sleigh. He had only made it a few steps when he heard the call.

"Jack!"

He turned around and saw Jamie running towards him. No, this _couldn't be happening_ because if Jamie kept running like that he was going to run _right through_ Jack, and Jack couldn't take that. Not right now. He had known that it was too good to be true.

He made a sound deep in his throat, and before he could stop himself, he hurriedly jumped backwards and a little to the side so that he was no longer in Jamie's path. His eyes never left the boy as he unconsciously curled into himself, making sure that none of limbs were in imminent danger of being passed through.

"Jack? Are you alright?" Jamie's words managed to snap Jack out of his daze, and the winter spirit took a deep breath and threw the kid a shaky smile in the hopes that it wasn't obvious that he was panicking.

"I–Yeah. Yeah, sorry about that," he said with a forced cheerfulness he couldn't quite feel.

 _Stupid, stupid._ Now Jamie had seen his panic and so had the other Guardians, and he didn't want them to think he was weak or he'd never hear the end of it from Bunny. And he had hurt Jamie's feelings, and he had to make it better because the kid didn't deserve to get hurt. Jack _especially_ shouldn't be the one hurting him, because he owed the boy so _much_.

"You just surprised me is all," Jack said reassuringly, pasting a grin on his face that he prayed looked genuine. Straightening himself back out, the spirit walked over to stand in front of Jamie again. "Sorry, kiddo. Did you want something?" he asked lightly.

And it was okay that he was right in front of the kid, because Jamie wasn't about to walk through him—he _wasn't_ —so there was absolutely no good reason for his entire body to be trembling all over.

"I just–I wanted…" Jamie trailed off, still looking concerned for his new friend, and Jack resisted the urge to wince. "I wanted…" The boy finally gave up on trying to express his thoughts, instead throwing his arms around Jack's waist and hugging him.

Jack froze, eyes widening. He couldn't breathe because this couldn't be happening, except that it _was_. He could feel Jamie's arms and warmth, and it didn't feel like his soul was being shredded into a million little pieces because the kid _hadn't_ gone right through him. Jack finally managed to suck in a ragged breath as he realized what that meant. It wasn't too good to be true. It should be, but it wasn't.

And that thought alone made Jack want to cry, but he blinked away his tears because how was he supposed to explain it if he started bawling all over his first believer? So instead of crying, he crouched down so that he could hug Jamie back. And he actually _was_ hugging Jamie instead of going right through him, and for some reason that made Jack want to cry even more.

But by the time Jamie let go, Jack had pasted a grin on his face again. Waving goodbye to the boy, he jumped into the sleigh.

"You alright there, Frostbite?"

The sleigh took off into the air, and Jack watched Jamie has he ran after it, waving.

"Of course, Kangaroo. Why wouldn't I be?" Jack asked with a laugh. Then he suppressed another wince. Good job, giving the rabbit an opening to tease him about his mini panic attack. But to his surprise, Bunny just shrugged and let it go, although his eyes held a glint of concern.

Jack didn't want to see that, didn't want to see the pitying looks the other Guardians were giving him, as if they could _possibly_ understand what he was feeling right now. So, blissfully unaware that the others were already coming up with plans to make him feel welcome, Jack turned away and went to sit in the back of the sleigh, where he had a great vantage point to watch the kids.

As Jamie and the others gradually disappeared from sight, Jack couldn't help but smile a little. This whole thing was too good, but it wasn't too good to be true. If Jack could accept that this was reality and not an elaborate illusion, then a whole world of new opportunities opened up. Just thinking about the possibilities was breathtaking.

Maybe he could visit Jamie again in the winter.

Maybe Jamie would still believe when Jack went to see him next.

Maybe _more_ kids would start believing in Jack.

Maybe the other Guardians would accept him into their group.

Maybe he could get a free pass to annoy Bunny.

And the greatest thing about these possibilities was that Jack could finally, _finally_ believe.


End file.
